University Libraries Present: AI as Author? New Considerations When Evaluating Sources.
In this workshop, librarian Christine Fena will review some ways AI is being integrated into published work within the worlds of news and scholarly publication, and discuss how this might impact how to evaluate and understand sources during the research process.
10/2 12:30-1:30 pm on Zoom.
Register via link: https://stonybrook.campuslabs.com/engage/event/10460202

Zoom Link: https://stonybrook.zoom.us/j/98533029054?pwd=5FXO6lWGTJssCADEYkYbA7sjaacPRX.1

Meeting ID: 985 3302 9054

Passcode: 436997

Abstract:

Semantic segmentation, the task of assigning a semantic label to each pixel in an image, is a fundamental problem in the field of Computer Vision. with crucial applications in domains like autonomous driving, drone imagery and medical image analysis. Despite advancements in deep learning architectures, state-of-the-art models still heavily depend on large-scale pixel-level annotations, which are costly and time-consuming to acquire. To address this issue, Semi-Supervised Segmentation (SSS) has emerged as a promising solution, leveraging a small set of labeled images alongside a larger corpus of unlabeled data to reduce the annotation burden. In this proposal, I aim to investigate the challenges of SSS and propose approaches to address them. Existing SSS methods rely on a teacher-student framework to generate pseudo-labels for unlabeled images, which are then used for model training. However, this approach presents two major challenges. Pixel-level consistency fails to effectively capture contextual information, and pseudo-labels are noisy, especially in the early stages of training. To address the challenge of noisy pseudo-labels, existing methods rely on confidence-based thresholding to identify reliable pseudo-labels. However, during early training phases, when the model is poorly calibrated, this approach can select high-confidence but noisy pseudo-labels. To address this, we propose a novel approach that reduces reliance on model confidence to select reliable pseudo-labels. Our method employs an ensemble of a segmentation model and an object detection model to select more reliable pseudo-labels, which are then used to weight pseudo-labels using rank statistics, reducing the influence of noisy labels in training. Next, to address both the challenge of capturing contextual information and noisy pseudo-labels I introduce a novel Multi-scale Patch-based Multi-label Classifier (MPMC), which incorporates patch-level contextual information and reduces the impact of noisy pixel pseudo-labels by using the predictions of the patch-level Multi-label classifier to detect noisy labels, enhancing overall segmentation performance. While my work so far has focused on effectively utilizing unlabeled data to improve segmentation performance, as part of our future work, I will explore the use of textual information, such as category descriptions, for segmentation tasks. In limited labeled data scenarios it is more challenging to align visual features with textual features from large language models (LLMs).

Are you tired of drowning in a sea of resumes and losing top talent in the hiring whirlwind? Transform your hiring process through a different lens and learn about AI in the Workplace and the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Whether you're a recent graduate seeking your first job or an undergraduate student looking to delve into more career-oriented opportunities, this workshop by SBU Career Center is designed to equip you with the knowledge and strategies needed to succeed.

Register here: https://stonybrook.joinhandshake.com/stu/events/1568133?

As generative AI tools become increasingly prevalent in education, their impact on collegiate writing raises important questions about creativity, academic integrity, and effective teaching practices. This panel brings together faculty and students to share perspectives on the opportunities and challenges that AI presents in an academic setting. Through an open dialogue, participants will engage in meaningful conversations, allowing for a deeper understanding of each other's viewpoints and fostering collaboration. Students and faculty will explore diverse ways AI can be used in teaching and learning and seek solutions to utilize AI writing tools ethically. This exchange aims to build a community of trust and shared knowledge, ensuring that AI's role in education is both innovative and responsible.

Register here: https://stonybrook.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAqdOitpjIpHtDGAsGBfEb3ah0YIzhIJolN


Join University Libraries for an engaging panel discussion where we delve in and learn about the impacts of artificial intelligence on the 2024 US elections! Panelists are Paige Lord, Tom Costello, and Musa al-Gharbi. The discussion will be moderated by Library Dean, Karim Boughida. Co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Intercultural Initiatives.

Please RSVP for Democracy in the Digital Age: AI's Influence on 2024 Elections here.

Abstract:

It is known that models like large language models (LLMs) can often suggest colloquial plans given verbal descriptions of tasks, yet they are unable to reliably provide executable and verifiable plans given formally specified environments. In this talk, I will discuss a strand of efforts to have LLMs generate accurate and explainable plans in textual simulations. Instead of directly generating the plan or actions, LLMs are prompted to generate Planning Domain Definition Language (PDDL) that specifies the environment (domain file) and the task (problem file), which can then be deterministically solved with an off-the-shelf planner. In a 3-phase study, my collaborators and I first observed that it is possible but very challenging for LLMs to generate long-form code such as PDDL domain and problem files given textual specifications. Next, we devise methodologies for LLMs to iteratively generate and refine problem files while exploring a partially-observed, simulated, textual environment. Finally, we show that domain files are even more difficult to generate correctly, even on well-established planning tasks such as BlocksWorld. Finally, I will discuss ongoing efforts to improve said ability of structured generation and promising frontiers to explore.

Bio:
Li Harry Zhang is an assistant professor at Drexel University, focusing on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI). He obtained his PhD degree from the University of Pennsylvania advised by Prof. Chris Callison-Burch. Prior, he obtained his Bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan mentored by Prof. Rada Mihalcea and Prof. Dragomir Radev. His current research uses large language models (LLMs) to reason and plan via symbolic and structured representations. He has published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers in NLP and AI conferences, such as ACL, EMNLP, and AACL, that have been cited more than 1,000 times. He also consistently serves as Area Chair, Session Chair, and reviewer in those venues. Being a musician, producer, and content creator having over 50,000 subscribers, he is also passionate in the research of AI music and creativity.

Launching a University-Wide AI Innovation Institute:

Last spring, the Office of the Provost led a group of over 30 faculty, staff, and administrators to consider how we can expand and leverage our strengths in AI research and discovery. The resulting recommendation was to launch a university-wide AI Innovation Institute (AI3), which would expand the Institute for AI-driven Discovery and Innovation established in 2018 from a department-level institute within the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) to the university-wide AI Innovation Institute reporting to the provost.

As a university-wide enterprise, the AI Innovation Institute (AI3) is intended to accelerate, coordinate, and organize AI innovation and education across Stony Brook. The institute will serve to empower the entire university community and beyond, catalyzing core AI research, curriculum innovation, and societal change in the ever-evolving landscape of knowledge work.

The AI Town Hall, led by AI3 Interim Director Skiena, is an open house event that will provide an overview of the major AI initiatives on campus, including the new AI Seed Grant program and Stony Brook's role in New York State's Empire AI program. The session will include time for questions and discussion about the future of AI at Stony Brook.

The overall purpose of this seminar is to bring together people with interests in Computer Vision theory and techniques and to examine current research issues. This course will be appropriate for people who already took a Computer Vision graduate course or already had research experience in Computer Vision. To enroll in this course, you must either: (1) be in the Ph.D. program or (2) receive permission from the instructors.

Each seminar will consist of multiple short talks (around 15 minutes) by multiple students. Students can register for 1 credit for CSE656. Registered students must attend and present a minimum of 2 talks. Registered students must attend in person. Up to 3 absences will be excused. Everyone else is welcome to attend.

The seminar will be taught by Prof. Chao Chen, chao.chen.1@stonybrook.edu.

Join us at the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) for an engaging workshop on Generative AI. This Zoom workshop is designed for faculty and staff members seeking to enhance their teaching methods and assessment strategies, foster student engagement, and navigate the evolving landscape of AI tools. Recording and slides will be sent to you.

Register here: https://stonybrook.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0qceisrjsrE9w1QtMkvSVw4lmr4h4x_Vqu

Talk Title: Knowledge-enhanced LLMs and Human-AI Collaboration Frameworks for Creativity Support


Abstract:

Large language models (LLMs) constitute a paradigm shift in Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence. To build AI systems that are human-centered, I propose we need knowledge-aware models and human-AI collaboration frameworks to help them solve tasks ultimately aligning these models better with human values. In this talk, I will discuss my research agenda for human-centered AI with a case study on creativity that focuses on how to augment LMs with external knowledge, build effective human-AI collaboration frameworks as well as theoretically grounded robust evaluation protocols for measuring capabilities of NLG systems. I will begin by describing knowledge-enhanced methods for creative text generation such as metaphors. Next, I will describe how content creators can collaborate and benefit from the creative capabilities of text-to-image-based AI models. Finally, I will focus on the design and development of theoretically grounded evaluation protocols to benchmark the creative capabilities of Large Language Models in both producing as well as assessing creative text. I will end this talk by highlighting the current limitations of existing models and future directions toward building better models that will enable efficient and trustworthy human-AI collaboration systems.


Bio:

Tuhin Chakrabarty is a final-year Ph.D. candidate in the Natural Language Processing group within the Computer Science department at Columbia University. His research is supported by the Columbia Center of Artificial Intelligence & Technology (CAIT) & an Amazon Science Ph.D. Fellowship. He was also a Computational Journalism fellow at NYTimes R&D and an intern at the Allen Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Salesforce Research, and Deepmind. His research interests are broadly in Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, and Human-Computer Interaction with a special focus on Human-Centered Methods for Understanding, Generation, and Evaluation of Creativity. His work has been recognized at top natural language processing and human-computer interaction conferences and journals such as ACL, NAACL, EMNLP, TACL, and CHI. He has been involved in organizing several workshops and tutorials at NLP conferences such Figurative Language Processing workshop at EMNLP 2022, NAACL 2024, and the tutorial on Creative Text Generation at EMNLP 2023. His work on AI and creativity has been mentioned in mainstream news media such as The Hollywood Reporter and more recently The Washington Post.

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